Research Guides: Environmental Science - General
This research guide selectively lists general environmental science reference resources found in print in the HSU Library and on the Internet.
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Current Awareness/News
See also the News/Current Events general databases and the Environmental/Natural Resources Law research guide section on Current Legislation and Policy.
- General
- Congressional Research Service Reports (National Library of the Environment) Includes over 1300 reports on environmental topics that have been prepared for the U.S. Congress by the Congressional Research Service, part of the Library of Congress. CRS reports undergo review for accuracy and objectivity and contain nontechnical information that can be very useful to people interested in environmental policy. Browse by broad topic or search by keyword to find relevant documents.
- Current Results: Key Discoveries about Our Environment (Current Results Nexus)
- Earth News (Eco-Portal) Includes environmental news headlines that can be limited by geographic region or searched by keyword.
- Environment and Energy Daily (E & E Publishing) Daily publication that tracks environmental and energy issues in Congress
- Environmental News (National Council for Science and the Environment) Directory of environmental news sources by broad subject area and by geographic focus.
- Environmental News Network (Environmental News Network) Includes an archive of 40,000 environmental news articles dating form 1997 to the present.
- Greenwire (E & E Publishing) Daily coverage of environmental and energy policy, politics and markets.
- Land
Letter (E & E Publishing)
Weekly report on natural resource policy issues
that takes an in-depth look at a wide range of natural resource development
and conservation issues.
- Outdoor News Bulletin (Wildlife Managment Institute) (print copy available in Periodical SK 351 08) Biweekly newsletter published by the Wildlife Management Institute reporting on legislative and management developments.
- Reuters World Environment News (Planet Ark) Comprehensive source of environmental news updated daily; search archive by keyword or browse by broad topic. Also includes collection of environmental pictures updated daily
- Quick Reference Sources: Newspapers (Humboldt State University Library) Includes links to local newspapers and fulltext newspaper databases available to the HSU community.
- Science for Environment Policy (European Commission) Provides a weekly summary of new scientific information as it relates to environmental policy issues. Browse by environmental theme or set up a weekly alert.
- Western United States and Canada
- High Country News (High Country Foundation) (print copy available in Periodical S 900 H5) Independent bi-weekly newspaper that reports on the West's natural resources, public lands, and changing communities. Includes an archival database of articles dating from 1993 to the present that is keyword searchable or browseable by category.
- Sightline Daily: Northwest News that Matters Daily digest of top environmental, social, and economic headlines affecting Cascadia gleaned from more than 40 media outlets.
Literature Guides
- Beacham's Guide to Environmental Issues and Sources (Beacham) 1993 (ref GE 115 B43) 5 vols.
- "Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources" (Allen) IN Using the Agricultural Environmental and Food Literature (Hutchinson and Greider) 2002 (ref S494.5 A39 U75 2002) pp. 157-186
Dictionaries & Encyclopedias
- ABC-CLIO Companion to the Environmental Movement (Grossman) 1994 (ref GE 197 G76 1994) Guide to the conservation movement and enviromentalism in the United States from early naturalists to the present. Entries also include major environmental legislation and court decisions.
- Conservation and Environmentalism: An Encyclopedia (Paehlke) 1995 (ref GE 10 C68 1995)
- Encyclopedia of American Forest and Conservation History (Davis) 1983 (ref SD 143 E53 1983) 2 vols.
- Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics (Chadwick) 1998 (ref BJ 63 E44 1998) 4 vols.
- Encyclopedia of Earth (Environmental Information Coalition and the National Council for Science and the Environment) Encyclopedia that contains articles about the Earth, its natural environments, and their interaction with society. Articles are written by scholars, professionals, educators, and experts who collaborate and review each other's work. They are written in non-technical language and are useful to students, educators, scholars, professionals, as well as to the general public.
- Encyclopedia of Ecology and Environmental Management (Calow) 1998 (ref GE 197 G76 1994)
- Encyclopedia of the Biosphere (Folch) 2000 (ref GF75 B5613 2000)
- Encyclopedia of World Environmental History (Krech, McNeill, and Merchant) 2004 (Ref GF 10 E63 2004) Articles in this three volume set trace the interaction of humankind and nature over the course of human history, across cultures, and in the modern world.
- Environmental Encyclopedia (Cunningham) 1994 (ref GE 10 E57 1994)
- Environmental Ethics (Palmer) 1997 (ref GE 42 P35 1997) This introduction to environmental ethics includes sections covering a chronology of developments in the field, biographical sketches of key individuals, background information on 20 key environmental issues, environmental law, important organizations, and key print and multimedia resources.
Directories
- Organizations-General
- Conservation Directory (National Wildlife Federation) annual (print copy available in ref S 920 C64) Lists federal, state, and some international agencies; national and regional organizations, commissions, and citizen's groups involved in natural resource use and management. Includes brief descriptions and key personnel.
- Guide to Graduate Environmental Programs (Student Conservation Association) 1997 (ref GE 80 G85 1997)
- Organizations--United States
- Directory of Some Interest Groups and Governmental Organizations Concerned with National Environmental Policies (Congressional Research Service Report 93-831 ENR)
- FirstGov (US General Services Administration) Portal to over 30 million pages of government information and services. Also includes an agency directory.
- National Environmental Directory (Harbinger Communications) Lists more than 13,000 organizations concerned with environmental issues and education.
- Organizations--California--See California Environment Information Sources--Directories
- Organizations--Northwestern California--See Northwestern California/Klamath Bioregion Environment Information Sources--Directories
- People
- American Environmental Leaders: From Colonial Times to the Present (Becher) 2000 (ref GE 55 B43 2000)
- Environmental Activists (Mongillo and Booth) 2001 (ref GE 55 E57 2001) Includes profiles of American men and women whose work for environmental causes spans the period from the early 1800s to the present.
- The Environmentalists: a Biographical Dictionary from the 17th Century to the Present (Axelrod and Phillips) 1993 (ref S 926 A2 A94 1993)
- National Leaders of American Conservation (Stroud and the Natural Resources Council of America) 1985 (ref S 926 A2 N37 1985)
- Places
- United Nations List of Protected Areas (UNEP, WCMC in partnership with the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas)
- World Database on Protected Areas (UNEP, WCMC in partnership with the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas) Contains information on the status, environment and management of 110,000 protected areas worldwide.
Images and Sounds
One can use a combination of general and specialized Internet search engines to find images, sounds and videos on the web. See Search Engines for Images, Multimedia, & Video (HSU Library Digital Media Center) for a list of specialized search engines. However, search engines fail to index the content of the "invisible web", especially information contained within databases. In addition to the general sources listed below there are more specialized sources listed in the following HSU Library research guides
- American Field Guide (Oregon Public Broadcasting and PBS) Includes over 1400 videos on the American environment produced by 30 PBS stations. Search by keyword or browse by one of the broad categories--animals, ecosystems, human history, livelihoods, earth and space, plants, public policy and recreation.
- Index to Illustrations of Living Things Outside North America (Mumz & Slauson) 1981 (ref N 7525 M86) Indexes illustrations of 9,000 species found in over 200 books. List of books is annotated with HSU Library holdings.
- Index to Illustrations of the Natural World: Where to Find Pictures of the Living Things of North America (Thompson) 1977 (ref N 7525 56) Indexes pictures of 3,000 species found in 178 books. List of books is annotated with HSU Library holdings.
Environmental Reviews
Environmental reviews contain analysis of environmental issues and typically have a geographic or topical focus. The content frequently includes extensive statistical data. State of the Environment Reports (National Institute for the Environment) is a major directory of environmental reports from international organizations, countries, states, and other non-governmental organizations. In addition to the broad-scale environmental reviews listed below there are more specialized reviews listed in the following HSU Library research guides:
- Fisheries--Environmental Reviews, Assessments and Plans
- Forestry--Environmental Reviews, Assessments and Plans
- Oceanography--Environmental Reviews, Assessments and Plans
- Rangeland Resource Science--Environmental Reviews, Assessments and Plans
- Wildlife--Environmental Reviews, Assessments and Plans
World
- Environmental Sustainability Index (Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) and World Economic Forum) Composite index that ranks 146 countries using 21 indicators that represent 76 variables of environmental sustainability. The socioeconomic, environmental, and institutional indicators cover such areas as past and present pollution levels, natural resource endowments, environmental management effors, contributions to protection of the global commons, and a society's capacity to improve its performance over time. Using the ESI, countries can be compared quantitatively on their progress towards improving and maintaining the quality of the environment.
- Global Diversity: Status of the Earth's Living Resources (World Conservation Monitoring Centre) 1992 (ref QH 75 G56 1992)
- Global Environmental Outlook (UN Environment
Programme) Ongoing series of "state of the environment" reports
initiated in 1995 in response to the environmental reporting requirements
of Agenda 21 that includes global and regional perspectives on the
past, present and future enviroment.
- Global Environmental Outlook-1 (1997)
- Global Environmental Outlook 2000 (2000)
- Global Environmental Outlook 3 (2002) (print copy available in GE 170 G567 2002)
- State of the Environment (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) Annual (ref HC 59 S7335)
- State of the World [Year]: A Worldwatch Institute Report on Progress Toward a Sustainable Society (Worldwatch Institute) Annual (ref HC 59 B766) Chapters are unique in each annual volume. The Worldwatch Institute provides Table of Contents and additional chapter weblinks for volumes from 1995 to the present.
- Wellbeing of Nations: a County-by-County Index of Quality of Life and the Environment (Prescott-Allen) 2001 (ref GE 140 P74 2001) Uses 39 indicators to create a Human Wellbeing Index for each country and 51 indicators to create an Ecosystem Wellbeing Index. These two indexes are then combined into a Wellbeing Index and a Wellbeing/Stress Index that measures the amount of stress each country's development places on the environment.
- World Atlas of Biodiversity: Earths Living Resources in the 21st Century (Groombridge and Jenkins) 2002 (print copy available in ref QH 541.15 B56 G762 2002) Prepared by the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre this work uses text, maps, figures and tables to outline the broad ecological relationships between humans and the environment and to summarize trends and conditions of the Earth's main ecosystem types. General chapters include information on biodiversity through time; diversity of organisms; humans, food and biodiversity; and global biodiversity. Specific chapers cover the state of terrestrial, marine, and inland water biodiversity. The web site includes interactive maps that appear in the print text.
- World Resources (World Resources Institute and the International Institute for Environmental and Development) Annual (ref HC 59 W667)
- The World's Water: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources (Gleick) Biennial (TD 345 G54 - latest edition in Reference) Each report includes chapters dealing with the political, economic, scientific, and technological issues surrounding freshwater. Also includes charts and tables presenting data on the world's freshwater resources. Tables, figures, and maps are also available at The World's Water as well as links to Internet resources on water quality and water resources.
- Yearbook of International Co-operation on Environment and Development (Fridtjof Nansen Institute) Contains both reference data and analysis on environment and development achievements and problems as reflected in international treaties, intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and specific countries.
- Environmental Quality (US Council on Environmental Quality) Annual report on US environmental quality.
- North
America's Environment: A Thirty–Year State of the Environment and Policy
Retrospective (United Nations Environment Programme) 2002
- Our Living Oceans: Report on the Status of U.S. Living Marine Resources (US National Marine Fisheries Service) (print copy also available in Docs C 55.13/2:NMFS-F/SPO #1) Triannual report giving national and regional overviews on the status of fisheries resources, marine mammals, and sea turtles.
- State of the Beach (Surfrider Foundation) Annual report that assesses the state of America's beaches by summarizing each coastal state's beach accessibility and health.
- State of the Coast (US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Series of essays on the health of the coastal areas of the United States.
- State of the Land (US Natural Resources and Conservation Service) Provides analysis and data on land use and change, soil erosion and soil quality, water quality, wetlands, and other issues regarding the conservation and use of natural resources on non-Federal land in the United States. Based upon the Natural Resource Inventory conducted every 5 years.
- State of the Nation's Ecosystems: Measuring the Lands, Waters and Living Resources of the United States (Heinz Center for Science, Economics & the Environment) 2002 (QH104 S73 2002) Examines the extent, condition and use of farmlands; forests; freshwaters; grasslands and shrublands; coasts and oceans; and urban lands in the United States. Uses 103 environmental indicators to present the "big picture" on the condition of ecosystems at the national level, as well as present trends on changes to ecosystem conditions.
- Status and Trends of the Nation's Biological Resources 1998 (US Geological Survey Biological Resources Division) (print copy available in Docs I 19.202 ST1 and cd-rom in Docs I 19:120:ST1 CD) Large-scale assessment of the health of plants, animals, and ecosystems in the United States. In the two-volume set Part 1 describes the major factors affecting biodiversity and biological resource health, e.g., land use, climate change, nonindigenous species; and Part 2 explores the condition and status of regional biological resource, e.g., Pacific Northwest. Updates Our Living Resources: A Report to the Nation on the Distribution, Abundance, and Health of U.S. Plants, Animals and Ecosystems 1995 (US National Biological Service) (print copy available in Docs I 49.2 R31/15)
California -- See "Reviews and Assessments" under each subject subdivision in the California Environment Information Sources research guide.
Bibliographies
- Environmental History Bibliography (Forest History Society) Includes over 35,000 references to books, articles, and dissertations on the history of natural resources utilization, management, and utilization with an emphasis on forest related resources. References through 1975 were also published in North American Forest and Conservation History: A Bibliography (Fahl) 1977 (ref SD 140 F33). Includes over 1800 references on California environmental history.
- Native Americans and the Environment Bibliographic Database (Dark) Contains over 2,200 print and online references on environmental justics, ethnoscience, conservation, traditional environmental knowledge, natural resource utilization, traditional foods, and land and treaty rights.
- The Physical Environment and Behavior: an annotated bibliography and guide to the literature (Wohlwill & Weisman) 1981 (ref BF 353 W64)
- United States Environmental Bibliography (Teisch) 2000. Bibliography of books and articles on environmental history, subdivided by regions within the United States and then by subject within the region.
Internet Subject Directories/Portals/Gateways
- Applied Ethics Resources on the WWW: Environmental Ethics (W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics )
- Environmental Management Tools on the Internet: Accessing the World of Environmental Information (Katz & Thornton) 1997 (ref GE 32 K38 1997)
- Native Americans and the Environment On-line Documents and Other Web Sites (Dark) Categorized by region and by subject.